Birding at Watson Lake has been fantastic this past week! Migration activity is in full swing. Over the last few days, I’ve seen terns, gulls, ibis, avocets, stilts, dowitchers, sandpipers, geese, grebes, ducks and so much more.
This past Saturday, I intended to ride my bike on the Peavine Trail but ended up doing way more birdwatching than biking! I racked up a great list of bird species, including ninety-one white-faced ibis, a couple of American avocets, a few long-billed dowitchers, spotted sandpiper, and two Forester’s terns!
And it wasn’t just a good day for water birds—I had common yellowthroat, lazuli bunting, Brewer’s sparrow, Vesper’s sparrow, black-chinned sparrow, and best of all, a stunning peregrine falcon that did a fly-by over the lake, at break-neck speed.
Two days later, I went back to the Peavine Trail to ride my bike, and again, ended up doing more birding than biking. I counted twenty-six white-faced ibis, three ring-billed gulls, two Forester’s terns, one Caspian tern, no avocets, but one black-necked stilt, and there were still some dowitchers.
Last Tuesday, I had two different individuals call the store to report rare bird sightings. The first call was from a man up in Groom Creek—he had a blue-throated hummingbird at his feeders. That evening, after work, I drove up to his place and saw it! This is a species I have never seen in Yavapai County before, so it was a big deal for me. The other call came from folks who live near Granite Mountain. They had a Clark’s nutcracker in their yard!
On Saturday I led a free bird walk for The Lookout to Mingus Mountain. We spent time near Mingus Lake before heading over to Butterfly Springs. At one point, we were standing on the dirt road right by the entrance to Mingus Mountain Camp and Retreat.
I heard some red crossbills vocalizing, which I pointed out to the participants on the bird walk. A few minutes later, I happened to see some birds on the sandstone pillars at the entrance to the camp. I honed my binoculars on the birds and they were crossbills! They were probably only about 25-30 feet away, clinging to the sandstone, using their beaks and tongues to get minerals from the rocks.
It was a magical moment, to have crossbills so close and to observe them practicing geophagy, the intentional consumption of soil and/or rocks. Using my Swarovski scope, we could see the birds using their unique beak structure. The tips of their upper and lower mandibles overlap, and, in conjunction with using their tongue, they were extracting minerals that were leaching out of the rock. Cool stuff!!
I’ll be heading over to Payson this weekend to attend the Arizona Field Ornithologist annual meeting at the Eastern Arizona College campus in Payson. The meeting is open to the public, and you can register at azfo.org. Part of the annual meeting includes several mini field expeditions to explore the diversity of the birds along the Mogollon Rim.
As a reminder, the submission period for our 15th Annual Wild Bird Photography Contest is still open. We will announce the winners of the photo contest and the 2023 Birding Challenge at our 20th anniversary celebration event on Saturday, October 28th. I invite you to participate by submitting a few pictures, see the store for details.
This is such an exciting time of year to be out in nature, witnessing the ebb and flow of species, as it changes from one day to the next. If you see a rare bird, please call the store (928-443-5900) to report it. Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark Gold Crown Store, wild bird products, and Vortex and Swarovski optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
